By Editor for the Taylorsville Times
Thanks to state and federal grant funding, the assistance of Alexander County Library, and other agencies, back issues of The Taylorsville Times are now online for free access and are keyword searchable, dating back to 1927.
Alexander County Library Director Laura Crooks related how the Times’ project was accomplished along with several grant-funded Library upgrades.
“In 2021, the North Carolina General Assembly allocated $10 million of the American Rescue Plan State Fiscal Recovery Funds (SFRF) from the U.S. Department of the Treasury that had come to North Carolina to be distributed to public libraries that qualify for State Aid to Public Libraries. Alexander County Library was a recipient of SFRF funds,” Crooks related.
“These funds began being distributed to public libraries through the State Library of North Carolina in 2022-23, and an additional disbursement was sent out in the 2024-25 fiscal year. The funds to libraries were spent based on the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds’ Non-Recurring State Aid to Libraries grant, following federal and state guidelines and regulations.
“The Alexander County Library considered what we learned about our library during the 2020-2021 Covid-19 shutdowns and limited services. Our goal for these SFRF funds was to make our libraries and collections more accessible, both at the library and when library visits are limited,” Crooks explained.
“Our first change at the library was automatic door systems, installed by Taylorsville Glass, at the Main Library, the Bethlehem Branch, and the Stony Point Branch, to make the library more physically accessible. A fence around the yard at Main, from Fister Fence of Hickory, and new outdoor seating at Bethlehem allow for more, safer outdoor programs for all ages. New shelving at Stony Point and televisions for multimedia programs at all three libraries improve the quality of the spaces and services the libraries can offer,” Crooks said.
“The greatest benefit of the SFRF funding, though, is the digitization of The Taylorsville Times microfilm archives, through University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the DigitalNC program, in partnership with The Times. The library is now able to offer local history research, even when visiting the library is not possible,” said Crooks.
DigitalNC is a project of the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, a statewide digitization and digital publishing program that works with cultural heritage organizations of all sizes across North Carolina to digitize and publish historic materials online. It presents digital materials that describe 1,819 locations in North Carolina and beyond, including all 100 North Carolina counties. Collections include 551 different types of materials.
“The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center is a statewide digitization and digital publishing organization housed at UNC’s Wilson Special Collections Library. They work with North Carolina cultural heritage organizations, such as the Alexander County Library and The Taylorsville Times, to scan, describe, and publish historical materials online, increasing access to and use of their collections. They are North Carolina’s hub for the Digital Public Library of America. The Center is supported by the State Library of North Carolina with funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, and by the UNC-Chapel Hill University Library,” said Crooks.
“The Alexander County Library has always been honored to offer Taylorsville Times microfilm archives as part of our collection. We are especially grateful to Lee Sharpe for his permission to digitize The Times. Library resources online are an invaluable way to reach out and provide service beyond the doors of the library,” Crooks stated.
Times Publisher Lee Sharpe said he was grateful to Crooks and DigitalNC for making these archives available to the public. “It will be a great resource for historical research and education,” said Sharpe.
Managing Editor Micah Henry pointed out that now nearly 100 years of The Times newspapers are searchable online. The back issues at Digital NC (1927-2010) are in addition to The Times’ website Online Edition archives, which began in July 2009 and run to the present.
To access the digital archive of The Taylorsville Times, visit www.digitalnc.org/newspapers/taylorsville-times-taylorsville-n-c/.
In earlier projects, DigitalNC scanned other Alexander County newspapers including The Times’ immediate predecessor, The Mountain Scout, as well as The Taylorsville Index, and the Alexander County Journal, all of which are online at www.digitalnc.org.
For more information about the Alexander County Library, especially online resources, visit www.alexanderlibrary.org and follow them on Facebook for regular updates on programs and services the library has to offer.